‘Hangry’ Is Officially a Word in the Oxford English Dictionary

We’ve all been there before. Who hasn’t experienced that awful feeling when you’re starving and then start to get mad that you’re starving? When there are no snacks to be found, hunger and anger collide to form the “hangry” phenomena. I’m sure you’ve used the term to describe your desire for pizza (when there sadly was no pizza) before erupting into a volcano of screams and tears.

If you’re looking for some academic sources to validate your unsatisfied emotional state, well, look no further. The Oxford English Dictionary has just included the word in their latest update.

While you may think the colloquial term is current linguistic development, it’s actually been around a lot longer than we thought. It may have been popularized in a recent Snickers ad campaign, but its first usage dates back to the 1950s. Though we’re betting the feeling itself has existed since the beginning of time, when cave people scrounged the earth for a smattering of berries or nuts or whatever cave people ate, only to find a bundle of leaves and sticks instead. I hate it when that happens. GRRR.

Here’s how Head of U.S. Dictionaries, Katherine Connor Martin, explained it in a statement:

“It is only in the 21st century that the word hangry, a blend of hungry and angry used colloquially to mean ‘bad-tempered or irritable as a result of hunger,’ has entered common use. However, the earliest known evidence for the word dates from 1956, in an unusual article in the psychoanalytic journal ‘American Imago’ that describes various kinds of deliberate and accidental wordplay.”

The OED also added a bunch of other new words, as well. After consulting with various experts, they decided to include “Me time,” “mansplaining,” “selfie” and “swag,” among others. Maybe “dollarita” will make the cut next time around?

Header image courtesy of Shutterstock.

Jessica is an Associate Editor at Chowhound. Follow her on Twitter @volume_knob for updates on snacks and cats.